The Poor Man's way

[-VY LoVeR-]

I got some neons in my footwells of my car and at the moment they are just plugged into a cigarette lighter, a single slot with a 4 way expander.

I got a quote from a spark for $150 bucks to wire them into the system and put a switch in and thats not gonna work out well for me i dont make a lot. So i came up with this idea.

If i buy a switch and some cable would it be possible to put a switch in between the cigarette lighter and the expander. Would this be dangerous or cause any problems. I dont know much about electrics so just wondered if this poor mans method would actually work.

 

[Ozzie]

itll be fine. before the switch you should install a fuse though.
but personally i dont see any need for fancy neon foot lighting unless its a show car. just sounds like something a kid or complete tool would do. just sayin..

 

[-VY LoVeR-]

Well its not a show car its just a little fun. What kind of fuse should i put in? And then other problem is the switch. It has 3 pins for the power, acc and ground. Is the ground wire necessary for this?

 

[m1lky]

It will work fine. But it would be better to do basically what the auto sparkie will anyway and run the wires behind the dash with a switch. You can take power from the back of the cigarette lighter and make it much tidier.

Edit: use a blade or a glass inline fuse. Connect power to 12v and acc to neons. The ground will be for the led or light on the switch so it lights up when it's on (if you don't connect it it just won't light up, switch will still work)

Get a fuse holder like this:
http://jaycar.co.nz/productView.asp?ID=SZ2040&keywords=Fuse+holder&form=KEYWORD or
http://jaycar.co.nz/productView.asp?ID=SZ2015&keywords=Fuse+holder&form=KEYWORD

 

[Ozzie]

the fuse should be on the positive wire and the switch on the negative. in most switches its the outside two pins, Negative Wire----------------(switch)------------------- Negative Wire

 

[-VY LoVeR-]

Well im basically saying leave in the cigarette lighter socket so leave in the plug with some wire hanging out still then attach that to the power pin of the switch.I dont see how ground would be needed then because if the switch wasnt there it would be just a straight wire. which fuse do i need, like what amp?

 

[m1lky]

The cigarette lighter will be fused to 10a already. Not sure what neons draw or what size wire your using. Max 10a but maybe 3-5?

The ground wire is so the switch can light up. You don't need it if you don't want it to

 

[Ozzie]

nah youll be fine to put a switch between the lighter plug and the light, sorry i thought you meant connect the wire to the back of the lighter socket.

 

[-VY LoVeR-]

Oh i see. the switch does light up when its turned on so thats what the ground is for. The neons are about 0.83 amps i think im not entirely sure. Where would i ground the switch to?

 

[m1lky]

"loop" it off the ground wire coming off your cigarette lighter